Why Proper Passwords Are Crucial Online

In a world where you need a password to access everything from the latest games to your bank account or email, it’s easy to forget just how important these short strings of letters and numbers can be. Many people store their passwords on their internet browser and use the auto-fill function, which makes them extremely crackable by hackers who access your computer or device.

Another common practice is for people to use the same password across a number of sites. This is a no-no and should be avoided at all costs. It’s also common for people to leave themselves logged in on gaming sites, chat apps, and email.

This post will tell you all you need on how to upgrade your password practice and why it matters.

It’s Not Hard To Stay Safe Online

Good password practice takes a bit of work, but it’s not rocket science. You will be doing yourself a great service by taking the time to get your head around good password practices and what it entails.

A study by Keeper Security, which provides cybersecurity services, found that roughly three quarters or 3 out of four people who use the internet daily in the US, Britain and Europe use poor password practices. These practices are not only poor, but they place people at tremendous risk of being hacked.

The study asked 8,000 participants across Germany, France, Britain, and the US whether they followed best practices when it came to passwords. In fact, a whopping 75% admitted they failed to stick to adequate guidelines. Worse still, many participants did not know what good password practice was nor were they aware of even the most basic guidelines. Around 64% (or two-thirds) said they used weak passwords or a number of variations of the same password on their online accounts.

For years now the cybersecurity industry has been advocating simple best practices.

Simple Best Practices

These days with many people suffering password fatigue, best practices include:

• Never reveal your passwords to anyone or stay logged in on devices on a public network.
• Use different passwords for different accounts. Never use the same password across different accounts
• Even good, secure passwords have limitations. Consider using multi-factor authentication to keep your accounts secure.

A simple example is logging into a Gmail or Google account, you will be asked to confirm that it is yourself trying to log in on your mobile phone. Only once you’ve confirmed this can you access your account. Use longer passwords over complex ones. Passwords should be about 16 characters. Use a combination of upper- and lower-case letters, special characters, and numbers.

Come up with passwords that are easy to remember but hard to guess and don’t use passwords containing information that people or friends might know about you.

Managing Many Online Passwords

In the early days of the internet, people visited or registered on very few sites on the web. These days, you do everything online from banking to shopping and ordering in take outs or a bottle of wine.

Since Covid-19 and the advent of working at home, conferencing and online meetings to manage a number of social media platforms, the number of sites people visit daily is enormous. Hackers today are extremely sophisticated and online fraud has exploded. Compromised account logins are said to be sold at rock-bottom prices on the dark web.

Using A Password Manager

Password managers create, store and manage unique passwords for all your accounts. Cybersecurity experts recommend considering NordPass, 1Password, and Roboform.

Password managers also offer protection from phishing and malware. Some of them even dovetail with the dark web and monitor if logins are compromised. Think of your password manager as a book that stores all your passwords. Take a look at some of these free password managers: Dashlane, LastPass, KeePass and Password Safe. Don’t forget to test your password, there are many apps on the web that will do this for you.

Secure Your Mobile

Use strong passwords or facial or fingerprint recognition to protect your mobile phone, as these personal devices are used for everything from banking, business, and private communication.

Good Business Practices

It’s probably a good idea to change passwords when an employee leaves your employment. This may be a short-term inconvenience, but it will pay off in the long term and guarantee your peace of mind.

This is particularly important if the parting of ways was acrimonious.

In business, it’s important to share passwords safely between employees. It’s also wise to keep sensitive company security information off the public internet. Investing in anti-malware software could save you a lot of money.

An Ever-Evolving Internet

The internet has changed hugely over the last decade. As Web3 comes online, there will be complete decentralization of the web with technologies such as block chain and peer-to-peer networks which are encrypted. But as technology develops and evolves, so do hackers and their ability to compromise your digital accounts.

Our daily online lives have changed the way we shop, the way we make travel arrangements, how we work, how we manage our health, relationships and how we entertain ourselves socially. Everyone moans about their lives or Facebook accounts being ruled by algorithms. Currently augmented and virtual realities have been joined by artificial intelligence (AI).

We all know about how algorithms designed to feed news sites can also be used to spread disinformation, lies and fake news.

Password managers will inform the user if passwords are reused, if they are weak and you have been compromised. Many even suggest new, stronger passwords, keeping your online digital details safe.

 Remember passwords should be at least 16 characters long and should include letters in upper and lowercase, special characters (or symbols) and numbers.

As passwords are a vital part of your everyday activity, it really is important to take the time and acquaint yourself with good password practices. 

The internet is going to get bigger and faster in the future, and the games we enjoy at sites like Grand Rush casino online will just get better all the time. As every aspect of our lives will probably be digital, the more we practice good password practices, the better.